Merchant

House Republicans attacked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday, arguing the agency is not able to safely secure the anonymous bulk data it collects on consumers' financial activities.

The $933-million asset institution said in a press release Tuesday that the technology, provided by Louisville-based R.C. Giltner Services, will enable consumer and small-business customers to complete the loan application process in minutes.

The CFPB on Wednesday issued a bulletin warning the collection industry and lenders - as well as the entire financial services industry - about potentially illegal conduct during in-person collections.

Mortgage lenders have complained bitterly about the risk and uncertainty of having to buy back defective home loans from Fannie Mae. Now Fannie is planning to offer yet another carrot to lenders that have lobbied extensively for relief from loan repurchases.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau charged the company with tactics that included illegal visits to consumers at their homes.

Following its promise to make mobile point of sale products a key revenue-driver for the company, Verifone Payment Systems released a new mobile card reader for independent and micro merchants.

One of the more perplexing elements of the slow, long-awaited march to EMV-chip cards in the U.S. is the lack of awareness that still pervades among merchants and consumers alike.

Many small banks and credit unions today offer convenient, in-house instant card issuance to their customers to stand out from the pack.

Global Payments and Heartland Payment Systems have a chance to create an international powerhouse focused on small to medium sized business, restaurant and education payments, if they can meld their technology post-acquisition and retain Heartland's management.

Despite the incessant fanfare around mobile wallets, biometrics and the Internet of Things, the slow-and-steady move to EMV security is in the spotlight of Verifone's revenue prospects in the coming year.